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Chapter 2 1864–1865: Johnson’s Mission Achieved Union victories on the Tennessee battlefields in late 1863 opened up new possibilities for Andrew Johnson and his public career. The three major accomplishments of the fourteen-month period from January 1864 to February 1865 were the official emancipation of slaves, the establishment of civil government in Tennessee, and the nomination and election of Johnson as the nation’s vice president. All other developments and events during this period seemed to pale in comparison. Probably the first letter Johnson received in 1864 that predicted his vice-presidential future was the one sent by Nathaniel G.Taylor in midJanuary . Not only did Taylor assert that Johnson would be nominated on Lincoln’s ticket, but also he declared that victory would result.1 The events of subsequent months confirmed Taylor’s prescience.While that drama developed,Johnson moved somewhat hesitantly toward creation of a new civil government, an endeavor fraught with difficulties. In any event, by the end of 1864, much had occurred that pushed Johnson onto the national stage or built a bridge to his political future. He exercised leadership and power convincingly and successfully. I During the fourteen-month period, the governor continued to deal with emancipation, as he had done in 1863. His statements and actions in 1864–65 underscored his earlier embrace of emancipation. In 1864–1865 42 fact, he made some fifteen public speeches during 1864, the majority of which contained comments about slavery and emancipation. In two Nashville speeches in January, for example, he expounded on the topic. In the first,on the eighth,he declared forthrightly that slavery was dead and that it was “the cancer upon the body politic,which must be rooted out before perfect health can be restored.” Moreover, he noted that he had in fact hired two of his slaves “—made a bargain with them for their labor, and thus recognized their freedom.” He then admonished his audience: “if any of you are slave owners, I advise you to go and do likewise, while you have a chance.” To a crowd of some two thousand persons,Johnson in his January 21 speech returned to the theme of hiring blacks and predicted that their “labor will be more productive than it ever was.” Like other southern Unionists, he hoped that the blacks would be “transferred to Mexico,or some other country....”At this rally, the assembled Unionists adopted resolutions, one of which proposed a constitutional convention composed of delegates who favored immediate and universal emancipation. About a week prior, Johnson had telegraphed Horace Maynard in Washington conveying his approval for a state convention that would “put the state at once upon its legs [and] for ever settle the slavery question[.]”2 In the spring the governor again articulated his views on emancipation . In a three-hour speech at Shelbyville on April 2, he advocated a state constitutional amendment to abolish slavery and referred again to the emancipation of his own slaves. He reported to Lincoln afterward that “Indications on the part of the people were much better than I anticipated in regard to the emancipation of Slavery—.” He assured the president that there would soon be a state convention that would “Settle the Slavery question definitely and finely—.” He also expressed hope that “Congress will soon propose an Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, to the different states upon this subject— the Sooner it is done, the better—.” Johnson followed with telegrams to William G. Brownlow and James R. Hood in which he voiced his conviction that the people of the state were ready to deal with emancipation in a special convention.3 April offered additional excitement for Johnson and the state’s citizens as a movement, initiated by Thomas A. R. Nelson and other Johnson’s Mission Achieved 43 Unionists, summoned a convention to meet in Knoxville. Worrying about possible difficulties, the governor decided to attend the conclave in person, his first trip to East Tennessee since becoming military governor .Much as he feared,there was trouble at the Knoxville convention as anti-Johnson Unionists clashed with the governor’s supporters.Nevertheless , Johnson spoke to the assembly on April 12, the first day of its proceedings. He castigated those who argued against the constitutionality of Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, declaring that “such talk is the language of treason.”The crowd applauded loudly when Johnson exulted: “ . . . may Heaven hasten the work of emancipation, and carry it on until all are free.”4...

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